[Discussioni]Fwd: [ffii] EP Decision against Software Patentability
Cristian Rigamonti
bigamons a tiscalinet.it
Ven 26 Set 2003 10:00:07 CEST
Se nessuno l'ha gia' tradotta in italiano posso farlo io in giornata
(potrebbe essere utile anche per il discorso di sensibilizzazione dei
media italiani...)
Cri
----- Forwarded message from Hartmut Pilch <phm a a2e.de> -----
> From: Hartmut Pilch <phm a a2e.de>
> To: news a ffii.org
> Subject: [ffii] EP Decision against Software Patentability
> Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 09:05:07 +0200 (CEST)
>
> FFII News -- For Immediate Release -- Please Redistribute
> +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++
> EU Parliament Votes for Real Limits on Patentability
> Strasburg 2003/09/24
> For immediate Release
>
> In its plenary vote on the 24th of September, the European Parliament
> approved the proposed directive on "patentability of
> computer-implemented inventions" with amendments that clearly restate
> the non-patentability of programming and business logic, and uphold
> freedom of publication and interoperation.
>
> * [9]Backgrounds
> * [10]Media Contacts
> * [11]About the FFII -- www.ffii.org
> * [12]About the Eurolinux Alliance -- www.eurolinux.org
> * [13]Permanent URL of this Press Release
> * [14]Annotated Links
>
> Backgrounds
>
> The day before the vote, CEC Commissioner Bolkestein had
> [15]threatened that the Commission and the Council would withdraw the
> directive proposal and hand the questions back to the national patent
> administrators on the board of the European Patent Office (EPO),
> should the Parliament vote for the amendments which it supported
> today. "It remains to be seen, whether the European Commission is
> committed to "harmonisation and clarification" or only to patent owner
> interests", says Hartmut Pilch, president of FFII. "This is now our
> directive too. We must help the European Parliament defend it."
>
> "The directive text as amended by the European Parliament is
> unbelievably good! I couldn't believe it as I was posting it article
> by article to the Slashdot story. It just gets better and better, and
> it hangs together incredibly cohesively. I think we have done
> something amazing this week" exclaimed James Heald, a member of the
> FFII/Eurolinux software patent working group, as he put together the
> voted amendments into a [16]consolidated version.
>
> "With the new provisions of article 2, a computer-implemented
> invention is no longer a trojan horse, but a washing machine",
> explains Erik Josefsson from SSLUG and FFII, who has been advising
> Swedish MEPs on the directive in recent weeks. That the majorities for
> the voted amendments had support from very different political groups
> - this reflects the arduous political discussion that had led to two
> postponements before.
>
> However, when 78 amendments are voted in 40 minutes some glitches are
> bound to happen: "The recitals were not amended thouroughly. One of
> them still claims algorithms to be patentable when they solve a
> technical problem.", says Jonas Maebe, Belgian FFII representative
> currently working in the European Parliament. "But we have all the
> ingredients for a good directive. We've been able to do the rough
> sculpting work. Now the patching work can begin. The spirit of the
> European Patent Convention is 80% reaffirmed, and the Parliament is in
> a good position to remove the remaining inconsistencies in the second
> reading."
>
> The directive will have to withstand further consultation with the
> Council of Ministers that is more informal and hence less public than
> Parliamentary Procedures. In the past, the Council of Ministers has
> left patent policy decisions to its "patent policy working party",
> which consists of patent law experts who are also sitting on the
> administrative council of the European Patent Office (EPO). This group
> has been one of the most determined promoters of unlimited
> patentability, including program claims, in Europe.
>
> Says Laura Creighton, software entrepreneur and venture capitalist,
> who has supported the FFII/Eurolinux campaign with donations and
> travelled from Sweden to Brussels several times to attend conferences
> and meetings with MEPs:
>
> Now those people who claimed to be opposed to having a US style
> mess, but only liked the bill because it permitted such things,
> will have to expose themselves. I predict a good number of them
> will claim that we must not pass this one, because we need a bill
> that makes us more similar to the US and Japan for the sake of not
> angering our trading partners.
>
> Now is the time to ask European politicians to show courage, and
> world leadership and vote up the directive that the American
> citizens, government, SMEs and Alan Greenspan wish they had instead
> of the current mess. Ask them to harmonise with Europe. The members
> of the European Parliament deserve thanks for their efforts in
> understanding the social consequences of this admittedly difficult
> technical decision. This has not happened anywhere else in the
> world so far. We Europeans can be proud of this political
> achievement, and I hope our politicians share this pride.
>
> Media Contacts
>
> mail:
> pr at ffii org
>
> phone:
> Hartmut Pilch +49-89-18979927
>
> Jonas Maebe +32-485-369645
>
> Erik Josefsson +46-707-696567
>
> Alex Macfie +44 7901 751753
>
> More Contacts to be supplied upon request
>
> About the FFII -- www.ffii.org
>
> The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) is a
> non-profit association registered in Munich, which is dedicated to the
> spread of data processing literacy. FFII supports the development of
> public information goods based on copyright, free competition, open
> standards. More than 300 members, 500 companies and 40,000 supporters
> have entrusted the FFII to act as their voice in public policy
> questions in the area of exclusion rights (intellectual property) in
> data processing.
>
> About the Eurolinux Alliance -- www.eurolinux.org
>
> The EuroLinux Alliance for a Free Information Infrastructure is an
> open coalition of commercial companies and non-profit associations
> united to promote and protect a vigourous European Software Culture
> based on copyright, open standards, open competition and open source
> software such as Linux. Corporate members or sponsors of EuroLinux
> develop or sell software under free, semi-free and non-free licenses
> for operating systems such as GNU/Linux, MacOS or MS Windows.
>
> [1][DE Deutsch] [2][translatable text] [3][howto help] [4][printable
> version] [5][Readers' Comments]
>
> [6]EP 03-06-26 [7]EP 03-06-20 [8]Linus 03-09-22 EP 03-09-24
>
> Permanent URL of this Press Release
>
> http://swpat.ffii.org/news/03/plen0924/index.en.html
>
> Annotated Links
>
> -> [17]Links to Documents related to the Plenary Vote
> Contains Results of the Vote
>
> -> [18]Europarl 2003/09 Software Patent Directive Amendments: Real vs
> Fake Limits
> Results of the Vote to be entered into this table
>
> -> [19]Bolkestein's Threats
> -> [20]McCarthy 03-02-19: Denying the EP its right to set the rules
> McCarthy uttered the same threats in February already. The FFII
> analysis of her paper pointed out that she couldn't have
> uttered them if there was not someone at the European
> Commission backing her. Now we know who her backer was.
>
> see [21]Frits Bolkestein and Software Patents
>
> -> [22]McCarthy Voting List
> This voting list is based on a compromise within PSE. It
> introduces several amendments which are contrary in spirit to
> McCarthy's [23]JURI draft report. Yet only 1/3 or the PSE
> members followed this voting lists. The rest created a voting
> list of its own, which is closer to the FFII recommendations.
> McCarthy was thus completely marginalised.
>
> -> [24]McCarthy Press Release
> The PSE-UK rapporteur, whose hardline pro-patent voting list
> was not followed by any political group in the Parliament,
> presents her defeat as a victory, all the while not forgetting
> to lash out against "misinformation campaign" let by an unnamed
> group, probably the "Free Software Alliance".
>
> see [25]Free Software Alliance
>
> -> [26]Plenary Debate 03/09/23
> Rough Transcript of the Speeches given in the Plenary Debate of
> 2003/09/23.
>
> -> [27]Who voted how
> Tabular listing based on [28]MSWord original from the Europarl
> website.
>
> -> [29]Analysis of MEP voting
> Report for all MEPs from Belgium. If they completely followed
> the [30]FFII voting list, they get 100%. A similar analysis is
> under way for all MEPs. First results show that many EPP
> deputies followed Kauppi (against software patents) rather than
> Wuermeling (pro software patents).
>
> -> [31]FFII Neues Archiv
> may contain some current news
>
> -> [32]FFII News Archive
> may contain some current news
>
> -> [33]CEU/DKPTO 2002/09/23..: Software Patentability Directive
> Amendment Proposal
> In 2002 the patent administrators of the Council pushed for
> unlimited patentability, although according to the procedural
> rules of EU legislation it was not yet their turn. Like the
> European Commission's Directorate for the Internal Market, the
> Council's "Patent Policy Working Group" is an institution on
> which the patent department of big IT companies can count. It's
> members are always willing to act against written instructions
> of their own government, if the consensus of the patent lobby
> demands this.
>
> References
>
> 15. http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/plen0309/deba/index.en.html#bolk
> 16. http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/plen0309/resu/index.en.html
> 17. http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/plen0309/index.en.html#links
> 18. http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/plen0309/index.en.html
> 19. http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/plen0309/deba/index.en.html#bolk
> 20. http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/amccarthy0302/index.en.html#altern
> 21. http://swpat.ffii.org/players/bolkestein/index.en.html
> 22. http://swpat.ffii.org/neues/03/plen0924/amccvotlst0309.pdf
> 23. http://swpat.ffii.org/neues/03/juri0617/index.en.html
> 24. http://swpat.ffii.org/neues/03/plen0924/amccarthy-pr030924.pdf
> 25. http://swpat.ffii.org/players/fsa/index.en.html
> 26. http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/plen0309/deba/index.en.html
> 27. http://mond.at/swpat/voting.txt
> 28. http://www.europarl.eu.int/direct/documents/fr/vote/Resultats/Mercredi/Appels%20nominaux%202003-09-24.doc
> 29. http://www.student.kun.nl/dieter.vanuytvanck/swpat/rapport.html
> 30. http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/plen0309/vote/index.en.html
> 31. http://lists.ffii.org/archive/mails/neues/index.html
> 32. http://lists.ffii.org/archive/mails/news/index.html
> 33. http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/dkpto0209/index.en.html
> 34. http://swpat.ffii.org/neues/03/plen0626/index.en.html
> 35. http://swpat.ffii.org/neues/03/plen0620/index.en.html
> 36. http://swpat.ffii.org/neues/03/linu0922/index.en.html
> 37. http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html
> 38. http://swpat.ffii.org/group/index.en.html
>
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